Beijing, China, the starting point to our amazing Silk Road adventure.
Some team members had never been to Asia before, so during our time in Beijing they discovered a whole new world. The food was wonderful, the language frustrating, the people very friendly, groceries were cheap and the weather was very cold. You are never alone in China; there are people everywhere! From Beijing we traveled by train west across China. After 44 hours, we arrived safely to find Urumqi covered with a layer of frozen snow.

Urumqi, China
From Beijing we travelled by train west accross China. After 44 hours we arrived safely to find Urumqi covered with a layer of frozen snow!

In the city we found an amazing mixture of people: Asians, Uygurs, Pakistani’s and people from the Middle East. Our main ministry in Urumqi was intercession and we went to different significant places in the city to pray. One day our Korean host took us to a massive graveyard where early Chinese Christians and missionaries are buried. Marked with bright red crosses the Christian graves really stood out among the thousands of other graves. We prayed together and our host translated some of the Chinese inscriptions on the tombstones. All the tombstones spoke of hope, of a reunion in heaven and of living and dying for a higher kingdom.

Almaty, Kazakhstan, the biggest city of Central Asia.
Kazakhstan is a very beautiful country; the snow-capped mountains are amazing. Almaty is a big, modern city with shopping centers and big cars. We stayed with two local families and it was very special for us to get to know the local customs and to eat the local food. In Almaty we worked with a local church, visited an orphanage and gave out food to homeless people. The contact with local Christians was mutually encouraging.

Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
“Alcohol is the curse of the former Soviet Union. The people here drink Vodka as water…” shared one of our contacts. I could hear the pain in his voice. Kyrgyzstan is beautiful. More than 90% of the country is mountainous, but the country is also poor and many people live without hope. The church in Kyrgyzstan was established only fifteen years ago and is fighting to survive. For more than two weeks our team worked with different orphanages and a youth centre. One of the treasures we discovered in Kyrgyzstan are the similarities between the Kyrgyz culture and the culture of the Israelites in the Old Testament. For example, the Kyrgyz slaughter their sheep the exact same way as the Israelites, not breaking any bones, and do not eat the tendon on the hip (Gen. 32:32). This is a very important key in sharing God’s love with the Kyrgyz people.

Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan is a country with a lot of resources and potential, but it suffers under corruption and selfish leadership. It was a real struggle to get visas and our time in Uzbekistan was a challenge for the whole team. It was a privilege however, to suffer together with our brothers and sisters there, who have to deal with many difficulties every single day. One day I was driving in a taxi together with one of our Uzbek friends. On top of a very big building in the city I read the following words: “Strength is in Justice”. When I read these words out loud, the young lady next to me replied: “Justice is the main thing that is lacking in our country. It is really hard to find justice here.” We are thankful that our God is so much bigger than earthly leaders and that He is at work in Uzbekistan.

One of the most intense experiences of the whole trip was our ministry time in a state owned orphanage for mentally and physically disabled children. The children were treated like animals and some of them would never be taken out of bed. In that place we learned that God’s heart especially goes out to the fatherless who have no one to look after them.

Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
Our time was short, but we’ve enjoyed it very much. Baku is a nice city on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The city has its own character; very different from the cities we’ve visited in Central Asia. By crossing the Caspian Sea we crossed a border from Central Asia into Europe.

Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia
Georgia is picturesque and has a rich history; the country is full of churches, monasteries and castles. After Armenia, it is the second nation on earth that became a Christian nation. During our time there we worked with a service team from Kiev, Ukraine. Our team was involved with different ministries such as working in orphanages, intercession for the city, visiting ancient Christian places, cleaning our neighborhood and visiting primary schools. Twice we organized a ‘love feast’ where we invited local people we had met in the city back to our home and prepared a special meal for them. It was a great way build relationships and to reach out to people.

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Our friends in Armenia prepared a nice program for our team. One good example is our visit to a nursing home owned by the government. We bought purple flowers in front of a big church in the city centre and got on a small bus that took us to the suburbs. The old ladies in the nursing home were very excited that we came to visit them. They shared about their lives; how their family had died because of a disastrous earthquake or how they had given up their own homes so that their children could study. Basically they live there to die, but their attitude was amazingly positive. We could be a blessing just by spending time with them and listening to their stories.

Antioch, Turkey
We had to travel to Turkey via Georgia because the border between Armenia and Turkey is closed. The bus trip was an enormous challenge for our team because the bus was very uncomfortable and dirty. During this trip the team stepped out in faith by worshipping God, praying for people and sharing the gospel. People got healed and one girl recommitted her life to Christ during the bus trip!

Jerusalem, Israel.
In Jerusalem we took time to debrief the whole Silk Road trip and to get some rest. On a beautiful afternoon our whole team gathered at Mount Zion to praise God for all the treasures we discovered in the nations along the Silk Road. In our hostel in the Old City we organized our last love feast and invited tourists, Jews, Arabs and Christians. It was a wonderful blessing to end an amazing trip in this amazing city!
 
Many stories were written along the Silk Road during the thirteen weeks we were traveling. It’s a challenge to summarize what we’ve experienced, but I hope after reading this summary you are inspired and amazed at the goodness of God. God is faithful and to Him be all the glory, honor and praise!

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